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Is the era of the $100 graphing calculator coming to an end?

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Re: Is the era of the $100 graphing calculator coming to an end?

#211

Post by CobrastanJorji »

clamprecht wrote: post #141
russfink wrote: post #111

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Why would they care about a calculator?

Non-programmable calculators were fine - computers were not. A programmable calculator is basically a computer. In a computer you could store data that they couldn't access (encryption, even if it's very basic). Could be a list of gambling debts, escape plans, or other horrors. Most prison rules are "written in blood", so to speak.

Some prison rules are written in blood. Most prison rules are written in bureaucracy and profit motive. No prison escape movie ever ended with the guard preventing future escapes by instituting a new "no sleeveless shirts when visiting an inmate" rule.

Re: Is the era of the $100 graphing calculator coming to an end?

#212

Post by filmgirlcw »

Man, I used to cheat on so many tests with my TI-89. I had a TI-86 and then the 89 came out and I convinced my mom I needed it for AP Calculus in 11th grade, but really I just wanted to play better games and have an easier way to cheat on my Physics exams.

Edited to add: I’m of the opinion every teen deserves to go through the process of programming hacks to hide their cheat sheets on their calculators. It’s a right of passage.

Re: Is the era of the $100 graphing calculator coming to an end?

#213

Post by Avamander »

jointpdf wrote: post #210
frostburg wrote: post #6

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's nice but as far as I know it doesn't have a real CAS despite its processing power.

If it runs Python, then couldn’t you use SymPy as a CAS (in addition to NumPy, seaborn, etc. for numerical computing / visualization)? By the way, I like the idea of this calculator and hope to see more like it. I think something that combined this with ideas from WolframAlpha (natural language CAS, problem explainers and expanders) and Khan Academy (spaced repetition, gamification of learning, progression of tutoria…

I seriously hope someone puts all these tools together in a single package that doesn't force you to get distracted with programming, I don't want to really do more than for example enter "y=x^2" and press "Graph", advanced features can left for later. Kinda like how I don't find a phone a calculator but know it can do so, the default isn't calculating numbers.

Re: Is the era of the $100 graphing calculator coming to an end?

#214

Post by saghm »

jedberg wrote: post #7

This can be summed up pretty easily. The TI graphing calculator has no internet access and no ability to store notes. Neither ability can be easily added. As long as that is the case, they will win, because the test companies don't want to deal with people having internet access and notes. Now if Apple/Android made a simple way for a test proctor to put your phone into a single app only that you couldn't easily break…

> This can be summed up pretty easily. The TI graphing calculator has no internet access and no ability to store notes. Neither ability can be easily added.

Does this really need to cost $100, though?

Re: Is the era of the $100 graphing calculator coming to an end?

#215

Post by mhh__ »

jointpdf wrote: post #210
frostburg wrote: post #6

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's nice but as far as I know it doesn't have a real CAS despite its processing power.

If it runs Python, then couldn’t you use SymPy as a CAS (in addition to NumPy, seaborn, etc. for numerical computing / visualization)? By the way, I like the idea of this calculator and hope to see more like it. I think something that combined this with ideas from WolframAlpha (natural language CAS, problem explainers and expanders) and Khan Academy (spaced repetition, gamification of learning, progression of tutoria…

Potentially, although a cortex-m4 might not be able to run it quickly or at all (Linux?)

Re: Is the era of the $100 graphing calculator coming to an end?

#216

Post by ChuckMcM »

One of the things I picked up was a Numworks calculator (https://www.numworks.com/) which makes the technical specs available. I've written my own firmware to play around with calculator UIs for fun.

They don't do a particularly good job with buttons though, and a nicer screen would be a bonus. All in all though, a calculator you program in python is pretty cool.

Re: Is the era of the $100 graphing calculator coming to an end?

#217

Post by afiori »

Avamander wrote: post #145
vkou wrote: post #142

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Nothing. There's not a single operation that you learn between grades 7 and 12 that requires anything more than a scientific, non-graphic calculator to perform.

Indeed, however a non-graphing calculator and a non-graphing calculator have differences, I personally would not want to live without calculation history and enter-calculation-then-calculate system (instead of the one where every symbol you press instantly applies it to the number you have on screen, I have no clue how these two are officially called). Point being that we'd end up with a certain list of allowed calcu…

A friend of mine had a old reverse polish notation calculator at home. I would like a resurgence of them :)

Re: Is the era of the $100 graphing calculator coming to an end?

#218

Post by kragen »

yarrel wrote: post #8
borgel wrote: post #2

Approximately related, I find the NumWorks calculator [1] absolutely enthralling. It has a fairly beefy modern ARM Cortex M4 processor which runs an attractive GUI written in Python. And yes, you can write and run Python on the device. The hardware is very well described [2] in human terms and electrical schematics are available. Software is totally open source and the device can be easily reflashed. I'm not sure wha…

It's a great project, but it isn't Open Source (and definitely isn't Free Software) due to the NonCommercial restriction on its license. Creative Commons recommend against using their licenses, including NC-SA, for software - https://creativecommons.org/faq/#can-i-apply-a-creative-comm...

Thanks for pointing this out. This is a fundamental and major distinction that can easily be missed—the noncommercial use restriction means that it's tied to this vendor and the people who want to spend their nights and weekends enhancing the vendor's profitability. It makes it really difficult to form a community.

Re: Is the era of the $100 graphing calculator coming to an end?

#219

Post by octorian »

melq wrote: post #34
jedberg wrote: post #14

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That's why I said "easily". Yeah you can store programs, but they're really hard to write, and most test proctors know how to clear the memory on a TI calculator, which they require you to do before a test.

Anecdotal, and I have been out of school for 5 years or so, but I never once had a teacher or proctor clear the memory on my calculator. Also, storing notes on a TI calc is trivial, you don't need any programming knowledge to do so.

Same here. I feel like I went to school just before teachers caught on to the issue. Either that, or I just got lucky.

Re: Is the era of the $100 graphing calculator coming to an end?

#220

Post by RandallBrown »

vkou wrote: post #142
melq wrote: post #102

As a reformed math major (that is, I've forgotten all my schooling), I think its worth debating whether or not there is even any value in having middle school / high school students use these calculators in the first place, let alone requiring them. In my hastily formed opinion, I think students might be better off learning without them. What does the average 7th grader need a CAS for?

Nothing. There's not a single operation that you learn between grades 7 and 12 that requires anything more than a scientific, non-graphic calculator to perform.

You don't think graphing equations is an important function for any math done by kids in grades 7-12?
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